All New Police in England and Wales Must Have Degrees

[Mustard Dave]

It's far more important that they're streetwise than educated to degree level.

As such, I agree completely with what @Why Always Ste posted.

It isn't a choice between one option or the other; you can have a degree and be streetwise too.

 

[Brightwell’s left peg]

One of the options is a three year apprenticeship, where the trainee will do a police funded degree course, with 80% of the apprenticeship spent on the frontline.

It's a bit of a non-story really; people without degrees are not excluded from entry due to the above option, and as franksinatra says, a degree is a gateway to employment. Several employers look for graduates with no specific degree as it shows they are capable of applying themselves to study.

You obviously haven't witnessed a student doing Geography. Unless struggling to summon the effort to attend the required 8 hrs of lectures per week and still graduating classes as 'application' and 'study'!?

;-)

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

It isn't a choice between one option or the other; you can have a degree and be streetwise too.

Where in what I've posted did I say that you couldn't?

I'm educated to a higher than degree standard and I'm exceptionally streetwise. I wouldn't be able to do my job effectively if I wasn't, so you're preaching to the converted.

 

[idahoblues]

Do they still have to be at least 5'8" ?

 

[franksinatra]

It's far more important that they're streetwise than educated to degree level.

As such, I agree completely with what @Why Always Ste posted.

And how do you measure being streetwise within the context of an interview process?

Having a degree, in most instances, suggests to a prospective employer that a 21 year old will have lived alone, budgeted, worked to deadlines, have IT skills, written reports/statements to a certain standard etc and those skils have been measured against a national framework.

For a 21 year old having not attended University that would be difficult to gauge.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

And how do you measure being streetwise within the context of an interview process?

By talking to them.

 

[purplenose]

Briliant move so instead of looking for people with practical skills that equip them for the job they look for people who are academically skilled first and foremost. This is without doubt the stupidest thing I have heard in ages. A police force for the privileged staffed by the privileged.

 

[Hoghead]

So the first time they come across a bloody corpse they'll go on the sick due to stress and nightmares.

 

[franksinatra]

Briliant move so instead of looking for people with practical skills that equip them for the job they look for people who are academically skilled first and foremost. This is without doubt the stupidest thing I have heard in ages. A police force for the privileged staffed by the privileged.

Maybe have a read of what is actually going to happen. One of the options is an apprenticeship where the officer serves 80 percent of his time on the beat and 20 percent in the classroom. Would that be a good way of preparing them for the job?

As you do not have to have a degree to enter by this route its open to anyone from any background.

 

[franksinatra]

So the first time they come across a bloody corpse they'll go on the sick due to stress and nightmares.

Yes if you have a degree you are much more likely to be affected by stress and nightmares when viewing a corpse.

Its a shame if those applicants had just stopped at A'Levels, and applied then, they would not be affected by the corpse.